Head-neck kinematics in dynamic forward flexion

Abstract

Two-dimensional film analysis was conducted to study the kinematics of the head and neck of 17 restrained human volunteers in 24 frontal impacts for acceleration levels from 6 to 15g. The trajectory of the head center-of-gravity relative to upper torso reference points and the rotation of the head and neck relative to the lower torso during the forward motion phase were of particular interest. The purpose of this study was to analyze the head-neck kinematics in the mid-sagittal plane for a variety of human volunteer frontal sled tests from different laboratories using a common analysis method for all tests. The study also sought to define a common response corridor for the trajectory of the head center-of-gravity from those tests.